


The Night We Met (in Omaha Fucking Nebraska)

by Gampyre



Series: Fictober 2020 [3]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Drive-In Movie, Flufftober, M/M, Meet-Cute, background DeNiall, background Shep/Penny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26825617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gampyre/pseuds/Gampyre
Summary: Day 4—Night at the drive-in!In which Baz and Simon are both (separately) at the drive-in movies in Omaha, Nebraska, both of them painfully single, both of them stuck playing third wheel to friends who can't keep their hands off each other.Or: Penny and Shep and Dev and Niall (and Beetlejuice) play matchmaker to two idiots who just met.
Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Series: Fictober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949773
Comments: 18
Kudos: 103





	The Night We Met (in Omaha Fucking Nebraska)

**Author's Note:**

> Flufftober prompts  
> [here](https://subpar-selkie.tumblr.com/post/628080856195547136/flufftober-prompts)

_Simon_

I can't believe I let them talk me into this.

 _"Come with us!"_ they said.

 _"It will be fun!"_ they said.

Fun for the two of _them_ , maybe. Shep and Penny are happily (and enthusiastically) making out, but I'm the one stuck back here in the bed of Shepard's truck watching them. I _would_ be watching the movie, but my view of the screen is somewhat obstructed by their heads.

At least I can still hear the movie. It's one I've seen a few times before, so I can sort of imagine the scenes as the audio plays out.

_"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"_

I give up on trying to see around Penny and Shep, tilting my head back and looking up at the stars instead. Well, I try, anyway. There aren't many stars to see—too much light pollution. Even out here in bum-fuck Nebraska. (It's _Omaha_ , Shep says, everytime I call it something else around him.)

I'm distracted from my mental replay of _Beetlejuice_ by a commotion next to me. A tall man stumbles out of the passenger seat of the car beside us, swearing as he slams the door behind him.

"Fucking hell," he grumbles. Then pounds on the back window of his car with a fist. "Couldn't keep it in your pants just this _once_ , Grimm? Jesus!"

A few people shush him from behind, and someone yells at him to shut up. He salutes them. (And not in the polite way.)

"Hey," I whisper-shout over the side of the truck bed at him. "Hey mate!"

He turns, one hand brushing long black hair out of his face, a sneer on his lips.

"What?" he hisses.

I jerk my chin at Penny and Shephard, who are still playing tonsil tennis, oblivious to everything in the world around them. (Including the movie.) (They really shouldn't have taken the prime viewing seats.)

"Got stuck being the third wheel too?" I ask.

The man rolls his eyes. "My imbecile of a cousin just _had_ to get his hands down his boyfriend’s pants. Kicked me out of my own fucking rental car." 

He kicks the side of the car for good measure. The car which is now rocking slightly back and forth. The rocking pauses, and the back of a hand slams up against the inside the window, middle finger extended.

"Fuck off, Baz," someone yells from inside.

"Fuck _you_ ," the man next to me—Baz—yells back.

"I'm _trying_ ," comes a different voice from inside the car.

"Shut _up_!" yells a woman from somewhere in the direction of the screen.

The car resumes rocking. Baz looks like he wants to murder someone.

I stand and swing my legs over the side of the truck bed, dropping to my feet in front of him. I wobble a bit on the landing, but he grabs my arm to steady me.

"Wanna grab a drink?" I gesture to the concession stand. They don't have much (I checked the menu first thing when we arrived), but the sign boasts popcorn and beer, at least. And corn dogs.

Baz scowls, casting one last disgruntled glance back at the increasingly steamy car windows, then turns his gaze to me, looking me up and down, sizing me up. (Checking me out?)

"Sure, why not?" he says.

The line at concessions is short. We each get a beer, and I get a couple of corn dogs and a Snickers bar.

We find a spot to sit a little ways away, next to the entrance. He settles in cross-legged on top of a decorative boulder (spray painted in all sorts of colors with the words, _Happy Halloween, mother—ers! Omaha High, class of 2022_ ). I plop down onto the grass beside it, leaning my back up against the boulder and cracking open my beer.

"Cheers, mate," I say, holding the bottle over my head.

I feel him tap my bottle with his. "Cheers."

We can see the movie a bit better from here, though we can't hear it anymore.

"So, your name's Baz?"

"Yep," he mumbles around the neck of his beer bottle as he takes a sip. "You?"

"Simon. Nice to see a fellow Brit out here. What're you doing out here in the middle of nowhere, anyway?"

He huffs a small laugh. "Road trip. I planned it with my cousin and our friend for a college graduation celebration—"

"The two boning in the back of your car?"

"Yes, those two. They just started dating two weeks ago. Totally threw everything off. I ended up having to book an additional hotel room each place we've stayed, because they're still in the honeymoon phase and they just can't keep their hands off each other. Not even long enough to watch a movie, apparently." He takes another swig of his beer, then adds, "I'm happy for them, but it's still fucking annoying sometimes."

I laugh. "I think I know the feeling, mate."

"How long have your friends been together?" he asks.

I shrug. "Two or three months, give or take. We met Shep when we drove through here a few years ago to visit another friend of ours in California. He and Pen kept in touch and he came to visit us in London once, and they decided to give it a go. I'm only here now because Penny begged me to come with her to visit him. I think she was nervous about coming here on her own, in case he changed his mind and dumped her like her last long-distance boyfriend did. But honestly, I'm regretting taking the invitation."

"How much longer will you be here?"

"About a week," I say. "You?"

"We're supposed to head out tomorrow morning. Next stop is Mount Rushmore."

"Oh," I say. I don't know why I feel disappointed. It's not like we were going to hang out and become best friends or anything. 

I think maybe I'm just lonely.

I pick up a corn dog, drench the thing in mustard, and eat half of it in one bite. It's not bad. I'll admit I like the food in America. They cook everything in butter, and the portions are always the right size. Except they're missing a few things. Like scones. American scones are simply subpar. (God, I miss British scones.)

Baz breaks the silence. "I'm moving to London next month."

"Oh?" I'm not sure why he's telling me this.

"Yeah. I'm starting a new job there."

I shift, turning around and leaning into the rock sideways so I can see him. 

"What do you do?"

"I'll be an assistant editor. For my mother's publishing company."

"So you're one of those literary types then?" I say. "So's Penny. She's always talking my ear off about the books she reads. She loves the classics. She also loves those cheesy romance novels, but don't tell her I told you that."

Baz laughs. He has a lovely smile. It lights up his face, and I think to myself that it's one of the prettiest things I've ever seen.

"I'm sure I can keep that bit of information to myself."

I grin back up at him. I want to make him smile again.

"Do you have any favorite books?" I ask, and then I wonder if that was a dumb thing to ask. Of course he has favorite books.

But Baz just nods and starts telling me about them. Pride and Prejudice. Some gay romance book about Achilles. Lord of the Rings. God, he's such a nerd.

I like that about him.

I could listen to him talk forever. His voice is deep and smooth.

At some point, he slides off the boulder to sit next to me in the grass. I share my Snickers bar with him, and he tells me about the posh boarding school he went to. I tell him about working my way through college. He teases me about how much I love butter, and I poke fun at the pictures he shows me of a goth photoshoot he begged his parents to let him do as a teenager—posing next to piles of skulls in the Paris catacombs, black eyeliner and everything. (It was a surprisingly good look on him, though.) (I bet he’d look good in anything.) (I told him that, and I think he actually blushed.)

Turns out we both played football, though unlike me, he was good enough to play for the team at uni. He also plays the violin, and speaks five languages.

He's also gay. (That particular bit of information makes my stomach twist.)

Two more beers and an hour later, the movie's almost over. My head feels a bit fuzzy from the alcohol, and Baz is leaning into my shoulder, and I'm running out of time to make a move, so I don't think about it.

I just go for it.

I reach down between us and take his hand, and he lets me. He looks over and gives me a small smile, and even in the dark, his eyes sparkle.

"Baz?" I say.

"Yes?"

"Um. When we—I mean, when you move to London, well. I'll be there. In London, I mean. 'Cause I live there. And I was thinking, maybe you'd like to grab a coffee or something sometime?"

His fingers tighten around my hand, squeezing it gently. 

"Yes, I'd like that very much."

I make a mental note to thank Penny later for dragging me along. Maybe tagging along with her to Omaha fucking Nebraska wasn't such a bad decision after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on Tumblr!  
> [Gampyre on Tumblr](https://gampyre.tumblr.com/)


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